The Forgotten Spartans
"6 months ago three Spartans were left on one of the Halo rings. They are searching for a Hornet that was left, whilst trying to discover the mystery to their abandonment.Their mission, to find the hornet and escape the Ring" - The Forgotten Spartans Part 1 Opening Description. 'The Forgotten Spartans' is a machinima made by Darknal, first created in 2007/2008 (parts 1-3 were uploaded under Darknal's account in December 2007 and under Machinima's youtube channel and website from July/August 2008). The series is an Alternate History set within the same timeline as Halo where another ring is discovered during the events of Halo 3. After abandoning the soldiers on the ring, the UNSC fled back to Earth leaving behind material and ordnance. The series follows the three Protagonist's, Spartans Darknal, Conan and Cosmic as they attempt to flee the ring. The project was originally created by Darknal as an attempt to see if he could make a '''decent machinima', and wasn't intending to make a massive series, although popular demand was the reason he ended up continuing it. Plot Episode 1 The tale begins by showing the three Spartans move across a Forerunner complex (Isolation) and we find out their names- Conan, Darknal and Cosmic. They head down the Porta and find a group of Elites. They narrowly triumph and move on. They arrive at another Forerunner facility (Epitaph). They find another Elite and successfully ambush him, before arriving at a desert area (Sandtrap). They find a Warthog and a brief chase ensues, until a grav hammer-wielding Elite sends them flying into a building and destroys their Warthog. The group narrowly escape down a hole and manage to kill their attackers with a plasma grenade and two trip mines. They arrive on a Forerunner Ark Cartographer (Construct), and Conan goes to find an exit, while Darknal and Cosmic talk. Cosmic asks if they will ever get out of the destroyed ring. Darknal says he believes they will, but sounds unsure of himself. Conan then returns and says he has found the exit. Darknal follows, while Cosmic looks at the scenery briefly before heading off to follow them. Episode 2 Conan, Darknal, and Cosmic arrive on a The Ark Forerunner Outpost bridge. Unsurprisingly, the Elites are there as well. Darknal goes under, while Conan and Cosmic engage in a vicious firefight, eventually running out of ammo and being forced to take cover. Darknal emerges from behind and kills a couple with his shotgun. The straggler is then killed by Conan. Two more Elites are on the other side of the bridge, and under orders, destroy the Ghosts with a Fuel Rod gun before retreating. Darknal and the others later arrive at a Old UNSC human base. Cosmic and Conan check the Warthog, while Darknal prepares another distraction by sneaking through the pipes and taking out an Elite with his Shotgun. The others move forward, splattering an Elite and destroying the Ghost. They surround the sole survivor and ask for some information. He reveals there are other Spartans attempting to escape, but their attempts are largely failing. He claims the three of them will be tortured, to which Conan responds "We may be tortured, but you won't be one of our torturers," and burns him. After Conan burns the elite Cosmic replies "Don't you think that was a little harsh". Darknal replies. "That was nothing compared to what he would have done to us". They drive down the beach, discovering that there is nothing but sea for miles. Darknal says there is a bunker which must lead somewhere, but Cosmic points out it is blocked. Conan suggests unblocking it, by driving the Warthog into the barricades and knocking them over. This works, and the three of them enter, leaving through the tunnels. The three of them arrive at Valhalla and find the other Spartans wielding gravity hammers in a standoff with a group of Elites wielding energy swords. Conan drops his hammer and Cosmic joins the Spartans in the standoff. Both sides charge, and the message "To Be Continued..." appears on the screen. Episode 3 The video goes back to the arrival at Valhalla, where the three talk and conclude this is the Elite base and that the Hornet was here all along. Darknal dismisses it as irrelevant, saying that an answer to why they were left on the ring is more important. The sequence returns to the standoff and the charge. One Spartan is killed by an energy sword, but the Elites are all killed by the hammers. Overconfident about his victory, Cosmic keeps charging, while the rest fall back. When Cosmic reaches the hill, he sees a load of Covenant vehicles and Elites. He manages to warn them about the trap before a spike grenade detonates next to him, seemingly killing him. Preparing for the attack, Darknal takes command and the Spartans get into defensive positions. The first wave charges over the hill and open up with a vicious wave of firepower. However, the majority of shots fail to reach them and no casualties are taken from the Spartans, while the first wave is massacred by the turrets. The second wave consisting of Ghosts and infantry head over the hill. The Spartans use Mongoose transports and rockets to defeat them taking no casualties. Darknal then orders the Spartans into Warthogs, with one driving and one in the turret. Banshees are then dispatched to take them out. They destroy one Warthog before being destroyed themselves. The four survivors get to the hill and disembark, but disaster strikes. The Wraiths attack the Spartans and kill two, the only survivors being Darknal and Conan. Taking the opportunity, the Elites advance. Darknal is then hit by two choopers, but in his seemingly final moments, he takes out his attackers with a trip mine. It is later revealed he is knocked out, but his armour is damaged and he is forced to swap his helmet. Conan briefly mourns, before advancing with a missile pod and attacking the vehicles, He then switches to a ripped-off turret and mows down the attacking wave. Conan then finds the Hornet and takes to the air. As the Elites come outside the base, he uses the machine-guns on the Hornet and kills most of them, but two Elites with missile pods attack him. He gets outside moments before the hornet's destruction. Seven Elites stand in front of him, but Conan makes no attempt to fight, saying simply "Other Spartans will come, and end this war." He is then stuck with plasma grenades, seemingly killing him. Episode 4 A brief, soundless clip shows the three main Spartans training in "The Pit". It ends to show the three being promoted- Cosmic to Captain, Conan to Colonel and Darknal to Brigadier. The group then head to Rat's Nest to meet the commander and their new squad member, Dolphinie. As the group talk, Darknal and the commander discuss their mission alone. It is revealed that the Elites on Earth have joined with the UNSC to eliminate the Flood and the Covenant and Master Chief is on a secret mission. However, the Elites on this ring still need to be defeated. Meanwhile, the non-combat Spartans are busy discussing Conan and when their training starts. Two stealth Elites ambush them and stab them in the back. The Warthogs are then destroyed and another non-combat Spartan is killed. The two reactivate their camo and attempt to flee, with Dolphinie in pursuit. Dolphinie climbs onto the pipeline and manages to snipe one of the Elites by spotting a movement of the objects surrounding him. The second Elite is also on the pipeline and almost kills Dolphinie. The two briefly exchange dialogue and charge at each other. Dolphinie snipes the Elite in mid-jump with no scope. Darknal, Cosmic and Conan arrive, amazed. The group head off for their next destination, Standoff. Episode 5 The Spartans quickly arrive and get inside the red bunker. Dolphinie waits outside. Cosmic kills two Elites and Darknal kills two as well, attempting to order the sole survivor around before a Major Elite arrives and holds Darknal and Cosmic prisoner. Darknal opens the bunker, allowing Conan in. Before Darknal and Cosmic can be killed, Conan storms in with a detatched plasma turret and kills two Elites, allowing Cosmic and Darknal to kill their captors. The Major attempts to leave, but Dolphinie snipes him in his vehicle. Another Elite orders an attack on the base. The group manage to hold off the Elites for a while, but Dolphinie stays still while providing sniper support. A sniper Elite kills her with a shot to the head, draining her shields and killing her. The Spartans are forced back. A Major orders the Elites to storm the bunker, but the other Spartans have filled it with fusion coils and a well-placed grenade kills all inside. The group check on Dolphinie, confirming she is dead before driving on to the other base. On their way, it turns out the sniper Elite did not storm the bunker. He takes off in a Banshee and flips the jeep over. The Elite manages to hide by apparently going over the cliff, but Conan hijacks the ship and the Elite is kicked out on the land. Conan gets out and comes under fire, but the Elite does not have good aim at close range and misses twice. The Sangheili is finished off by a Warthog being hammered into it. Darknal activates the bunker to find that Spartans are heading to Valhalla to evacuate. The group drive there, but are too late- an Elite attack has already taken place. The group load up on supplies and move round, going through places such as Guardian,before ending up on Isolation at the events at Episode 1. The events then fastforward to Conan being stuck by at least seven plasma grenades. A week after the battle for Valhalla, two Spartans land and confirm Cosmic is alive. One guards the prone form of Cosmic, while the other looks for Conan and Darknal. Episode 6 The episode was originally meant for Christmas, but a busy Christmas season and personal life means Darknal was unable to complete Part 6 in time. The episode begins with Cosmic awake and standing. He walks over to the unconscious form of Darknal. The camera then panes to 2 white spartans saying that Cosmic is alive, but they have had to change Darknal's helmet to Mark V, as well as announcing that Conan is MIA. It is said that Cosmic and Darknal were moved to Avalanche. Once Darknal had awoken, he had went out to look for Conan, against everyone's will. Comsic catches up with him and get into an arguement about what happened to Conan. As they finish, they turn to see a squad of elites. The cavalry comes in, and they are repelled. Stormray, whose rank is so far unsaid, begins explaining to Darknal that his team was also left on the ring and have been looking for them for the last few months. He then pulls Darknal aside to discuss their situation. Another base much like Avalanche is shown, which is Last Resort, with a Covenant attack force on the way. The Spartans prep themselves, grabbing the necessary weapons and ammo as well as 4 warthogs to repel the invasion. They suit up and make their way to the beach wall and mount up against the enemy. Two gauss warthogs protect the main entrance to the base and other spartans position themselves on top of the wall with rockets, battle rifles and snipers. On the other side of the wall, the commanding officer, Feonaro watches over the wall with the rest of the Spartans who take advantage of the turrets positioned along the wall. Soon afterwards, silence occurs and the Spartans look around for the enemy only to find their is none. An elite commander fires a shot from his beam rifle at one of the spartans and orders the rest of them to "Head for the sea wall" as they appear from their camoflauge, proceeding to the beach from the sea on foot. Feonaro immediately shouts "Spartans, ENGAGE!" and so a heavy fight occurs. The elites get pinned down by the turrets and attempt to put to use their deployable cover to hold out against the Spartans constant fire. On the other side of the sea wall, more elites attack the Spartans put are stopped as the gauss warthogs and soldiers hold the line. Feonaro stresses to his fellow Spartans to "Mark your f***ng targets!". The elites eventually begin to fight back as they throw plasma grenades, destroying the gauss warthogs and killing a soldier with an excellent throw from one of the elites. The elites bring in ghosts outside of the entrance but are destroyed by a Spartan weilding a rocket launcher. Fearing that they will fail the assualt on the sea wall, the elites make a desperate attempt to flank the Spartans by climbing part of the sea wall seperating the two sides of the beach. They are spotted by Feonaro and he shouts "They're above us!", the Spartans on the turrets take them out before the elites could take out one of the soldiers. The elites begin the final wave and make an impressive stretch to the enemy, but only makes it to the sea wall who attempts to take out Feonaro who quickly makes short work of him, who immediatly says afterwards "F*** off!" to the dead elite. Once the heat dies down, they recieve word that the spartans were found and they decide to pack up and return to Avalanche, Feonaro states "Our mission here is done, get everyone to leave A.S.A.P". It then goes back to Stormray and Darknal dicussing how they were left and why the Covenant were trying to hold the humans back. Darknal asks how they intend to fight the growing army of elites, Stormray responds by saying "The elites aren't the only ones with an army." To which the camera zooms out to show just how they intend to do just that. Episode 7 The episode begins on an Elite factory (Which is on the map Assembly) as a pair of Elites discuss how the ringworld "Halo" is a danger to the Elites homeworld and the order to destroy all of the Spartans on Avalanche is given. Although there were plans to negotiate the Spartans to leave the ringworld and not destroy it, those plans was cancelled because if the Spartans knew what the Elites were hiding, they wouldn't be in room for negotiation. Meanwhile, Darknal and Cosmic finds from Stormray that they have finally decoded the Spartan evacuation message and discover that Halo, 6 months ago headed for a portal of some type and the majority of the UNSC forces evacuated immediately. It is also learned that the ringworld was heading towards the Elite homeworld, which explains the rapid and ever-continuing growth of Elite numbers. Meanwhile, a White Spartan soldier reports in, in the interior of the Avalanche base (Which is on the map Orbital), that the Elites have begun moving out to attack the base on Avalanche. Soon the two massive armies of Elites and Spartans meet in a standoff. The battle begins as the first wave of Elites armed with Energy Swords confront the frontline Spartans wielding Gravity Hammers. Then, Elites wielding range weapons like Needlers and Spikers form the back of the first wave. Spartans armed with Rifles, SMGs and Pistols deal with them, and Warthogs soon follow out, taking out masses of Elites. However, the Elites used a couple of Wraiths to counter them, and the power of each Plasma Mortar kills the Warthog drivers and gunners, but however it sends the Warthogs flying back into the air, and landing on the ground splattering the charging Spartans. Meanwhile in outer space, the missing end of UNSC Forward Unto Dawn orbits around the Elites' homeworld and heads toward the Halo ringworld. Inside the Avalanche base, it is detected by the Stormray but he chose to ignore it due to the fact they can't tell if there's lifeforms onboard. As the casualties of the Spartans begin to increase, Stormray orders Spartans inside the base to be armed with Rocket Launchers, get into the battlefront and destroy as much as they can. The second wave of Elites arrives and the current frontline Spartans are ordered to hold their positions, which soon fails as they come under heavy fire from Elite Infantry units and the Wraiths' Plasma Mortars, and suffer heavy casualties. However, the Rocket Launcher-armed Spartans are ready, where they assemble on the top of the base and soon fire dozens of Rockets into the battlefield, killing tons of Elites in the process. However, in order not to take too much losses, the Elites counter the Rockets back with Banshees. Although the Banshees get destroyed by the Rockets, they eventually have some success in taking out several Rocket Launcher-armed Spartans, and more Banshees are still to come. Discovering the incoming Wraiths, Stormray, Cosmic and Darknal head out to stop them only to find that majority of their forces are gone, and most of the remaining Spartans retreat and find for cover. A few Spartans were brave enough to pilot Warthogs and a Scorpion to take the Wraiths out, although one of the Wraiths was destroyed, the vehicles were eventually destroyed. When all hope seems lost, and the Elites seem to be winning, Darknal, who took cover behind a burning Warthog looks up to see a Spartan in green armor in front of him, and the then says "Looks like you need a hand". Darknal, confused about who the Spartan really is, does not reply but instead sees the Spartan, who is believed to be the Master Chief due to his armor color and voice and later confirmed to be him thanks to the credits, heading out to the battlefield. The other remaining White Spartans make a last effort to stop the incoming Elite army from reaching the Avalanche base, and the Master Chief reinforces them, taking out a few Elites along the way, a couple of Banshees, and ultimately hijacking and destroying the second and last Wraith besieging the base, with the help of a Bubble Shield. Following the slow-motion explosion of the Wraith, the ending ends with a "To be continued". Episode 8 The episode begins with Darknal, Cosmic, and Stormray talking about where Chief came from. With the help of Cortana, they find out that Chief destroyed the last ring. Puzzled, Cortana looks into the ring's control system and tries to find out where the current ring came from. Meanwhile, a small squad of ODST's, lead by Kootra, are given orders to return the Avalanche base. However, elites are given orders to prevent this, and set up an ambush. Kootra fingers this out, and the squad engages in battle with the ambush force. Back at Avalanche, Chief asks Darknal "Where's my brother?" Cosmic questions this, and Stormray tells him that no spartan "officially" has a relation. Since Darknal and Cosmic were unconcious at the time, they don't know what happened to Conan. Cortana then tries to hack into the elites computer system, so he can find out what happened to Conan on Valhalla. Kootra's force is depleting, and orders reinforcements. Kootra goes to the top level and kills two elites, and is saved by Feonaro. The two spartans soon kill the remaining elites, and prepare to return to Avalanche. Cortana finds the footage on what happened on Valhalla, and displays it to the four spartans. They soon see Conan disappear in the plasma explosions, and are saddened by the news. Cosmic becomes enraged and he say " this is F**king impossible and leaves the base. Darknal explains to Stormray that Conan was more of a friend than a squad member, and soon leaves to comfort Cosmic. Cosmic, outside the base, sees Conan and is requested to avenge him. Darknal arrives but Cosmic walks towards a hornet darknal say "this is not safety to your life" and Cosmic say to Darknal "This need to be Done?" and dissapears. The elites launch another attack, but with bigger numbers. Stormray tells the spartans to evaluate the situation, and prepare for their last stand. The elites arrive and prepare for Libprius' orders. He tells them to simply "do not dissapoint me this time" and the elites prepare. However, Kootra, Feonaro, and Tamerlane (red spartan) arrives with the ODST's, and flanks the elites. The two forces collide. An elite tells Libprius that there is a possibility of failure and requests a talk with the humans. Libprius ignore this, telling him that if they discover the truth, the ring will be destroyed and the elites homeworld will be doomed. He is given permission for the arrival of reinforcements, which will arrive on the battlefield. The fight continues and the elites are outnumbered. Under the orders of Libprius, the elites are to concentrate their fire power on the spartans. An elite walks towards a spartan, who is unaware, and prepares for his death, only to be foiled by Kootra. Stormray, Darknal, and Chief prepare themselves for the battle, and charge towards the elites. Stormray grabs a hammer and takes out several elites. Main Characters Darknal :*Voice Actor: Chris Thake :*Armour colour: Steel primary, Red secondary :*Armour type: Standard Mark VI, but uses Mark V in Episode's 6, 7 and 8 due to armour damage :*Weapon of choice: Battle Rifle, Assault Rifle Darknal is a Spartan Brigadier, and the squad leader. His colour scheme is steel with red shoulder pads. He shows his fellow squad members his capabilities, even eliminating an entire elite squad splattered him and throw a mine. Darknal is a loyal spartan, and looks out for his fellow squad, even trying to spot Cosmic from going over the hill in Valhalla during episode 3. Cosmic :*Voice Actor: Michael Thake :*Armour Colour: Blue as primary colour with Red as secondary colour :*Armour type: Normal helmet with EOD chest and Hayabusa shoulder pads :*Weapon of choice: Sub-machine gun, often dual-wielded Cosmic is a Spartan Captain. His colour scheme is Blue with Red shoulder pads. His weapons of choice are dual-wieldable SMGs. He shows that he cannot accept anything on his shoulders, and blames Conan's dissapearence on Darknal instead of himself. He later disappears in a hornet in episode 8. Conan :*Voice Actor: Chris Thake :*Armour Colour: Green primary and Brown secondary :*Armour type: Normal helmet with left Scout shoulder pad and CQB right shoulder pad, CQB chest :*Weapon of Choice: Brute Shot, Sentinel Beam, Support Weaponry Conan is a Spartan colonel. His colour scheme is Green with Brown shoulder pads. He is often the most heroic, jumping off a cliff to hijack a Banshee and advancing against a wave of Elites when he is the only one believed to be alive. However, he seems to be the most unfeeling, claiming that Darknal did not fail as a Spartan by letting Dolphinie die, but she failed herself. He is compared with Master Chief due to his die hard attitude and his trigger happy senses. In Episode 8, he is confirmed as Master Chief's brother, as well as his death. Major characters Stormray :*First appearance: Episode 6 :*Armor Colour: White primary with green secondary :*Armor: Mark VI helmet,Security shoulders and Hayabusa body :*Voice actor: Adam Parker Commander of the Spartans on Avalanche. He shows himself as a capable commander, as his quick thinking tactics often prove useful. Master Chief :*First appearance: Episode 7 :*Armor Colour: Sage (Green) :*Armor: Entirely Mark VI :*Voice Actor: GUITARMASTERX7 Confirmed via the credits to be Master Chief as first speculated due to his armor colour and voice, he appears in the later parts of Episode 7, after having the second half of his battle cruiser land on the ring. He assists the White Spartans in combat which includes taking out a several Elites, a Banshee and a Wraith that are besieging the Avalanche base. He is later revealed as Conan's brother Libprius He is an elite major who commands seemingly all the elites in Avalanche. He shows very strong hatred for the humans and great determination to stop them. He first appeared in episode 7 when he talks to an assault elite. He tells Ebrius about talking through with the humans and settle without violence, but he refuses to stop fighting the humans instead of with the Covenant Loyalists like the elites on Earth. He wants the humans dead and sends the minor elite away. In episode 8 he is escorted to his room by ascetic zealots only to meet the assault elite later on. he gives Libprius bad news on the battle and also stills tries to convince him to talk with the humans, but Libprius, still stubborn, ignores his idea. Dolphinie :*First appearance: Episode 4 :*Last appearance: Episode 5 :*Armor Colour: Pink primary, purple secondary :*Armor: Standard Mark VI :*Voice actor: Stacy Davis Dolphinie is a Spartan of an unknown rank. Her colour scheme is pink with purple shoulderpads. She first appeared in Episode 4 joining Darknal's unit. When Cosmic offers to make her career very interesting (a pass at her), she politely declines. When the commander and Darknal go to discuss their mission, she tells Cosmic she wants to make something clear "You try anything, and I'll snipe it off." She later deals with an Elite attack on Rat's Nest and kills both the Elites without any assistance. Later, she accompanies Darknal and his unit to Standoff and kills several Elites with a sniper rifle. However, she is eventually killed by an Elite sniper. General :*First appearance: Episode 4 :*Armor Colour: White primary with yellow secondary :*Armor: Standard Mark VIwith EVA shoulders :*Voice Actor: John Ambrose The General is the Spartan in charge of operations on the ring. Little is known about him. It is likely he evacuated with the other Spartans from Valhalla. Kootra Reception The Forgotten Spartans has received widespread praise for its excellent action footage, particularly the moment in Episode 5 when Conan jumped off the cliff to board the banshee. The vehicle chase scenes in the earlier episodes were also highly praised. Some fans have even commented that the series is superior to DigitalPh33r's machinima projects. The high quality of voice acting, sound placement and camera angling also captivated many people. The few 'epic battles' involving the three spartans and seemingly limitless elites added to the series' success. Because of this, Machinima has given it a playlist link on their YouTube page. While the series features superb action sequences and combat coreography, it has also been said that The Forgotten Spartans does not exhibit top-notch dialouge. While some fans find it worthy to point it out, others see this as a minor flaw, easily overshadowed by the machinima's action and camera work. Chris Thake was also asked to appear on Live with Cpt Jack Hammer, to talk about his production, and why it takes time